


ready to fly, you and i

by lazyfish



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Kid Fic, but like, but they're barely mentioned so, the rest of the team are also there, this is self-indulgent fluff, what's the point of fanfic if it doesn't make you happy yo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-07-01 05:01:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15767118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish
Summary: Elena and Mack sign their daughter up for a rec league soccer team - and the result is far from what they expect.





	ready to fly, you and i

It was Mack’s idea to sign Estella up for a junior soccer league for the summer. They had just moved to the small Wisconsin suburb they now called home, and he thought that doing some summer activity might help Stella make friends before the school year started. First grade was a big enough transition without the added burden of not knowing anyone. Their daughter had insisted that she would rather do soccer than basketball, much to her father’s chagrin.

So, Elena’s on the bleachers next to the soccer field, still lamenting the fact that since she’s in America, she has to call football by that ridiculous name. Stella’s already on the field, chatting with a blonde girl who looks about her age, maybe older. Elena wants to relax, she really does, but relaxing doesn’t come naturally to her anymore.

She’s not alone in that, at least. Most of the other parents are buried in some sort of electronic device - mostly phones, though there is one dad clacking away on a keyboard - but on the top row of the bleachers, a scruffy-looking man is surveying the area with the intensity that Elena’s come to associate with people who are world-weary. His face feels familiar for some reason, but she’s willing to write that off as recognizing his bearings as a reflection of her own.

Mack had told her that the soccer practices would be as much of a chance for her to meet other people as it was for their daughter, so Elena takes the plunge, sliding along the bench seat until she’s close enough to the man to be able to speak comfortably. 

“Hard not to worry about them, huh?” She asks with a smile that she hopes is easygoing. 

The man startles slightly, eyes flicking to Elena, then the field, and then Elena again before he answers. “Yeah.” His voice is rough and accented, and Elena makes a note of it. His answer doesn’t invite further conversation, but her question hadn’t been all that open-ended, either.

She tries again. “Which one’s yours?”

“Tall blonde.” The man actually smiles this time. “You?”

“The short one she’s talking to,” Elena laughs. She hadn’t realized it until the man had pointed it out, but the blonde girl Stella’s still talking to is a solid six inches taller than her. 

The coach blows a whistle to call the children to attention, and Elena hyperfocuses for a moment, making sure all is well before turning back to her conversation. 

“Elena Rodriguez.” She extends her hand for a shake, belatedly realizing that metal hands are uncommon and might freak some people out.

This man is apparently not one of those people, because he shakes her hand without hesitation. “Lance Hunter.” He smiles at her. “You new to the area?”

Elena nods. They spend the entirety of the soccer practice talking about why Lance and his wife had moved to Wisconsin over half a decade ago, and then about the school their daughters will both be attending in the fall. It relaxes Elena a little to hear more about the neighborhood from someone who’s actually lived there - according to Lance, it really is every bit as good in reality as it had seemed in her research.

The more she talks to Lance, the more she’s certain that he comes from a similar background to her. Elena even considers asking him if he’s ex-S.H.I.E.L.D., but she realizes that might just be a bit of projection, same as why she had thought she recognized him.

Their daughters seem thick as thieves by the end of the soccer practice, running over to their parents in tandem. Elena can’t help but smile at the way Lance’s daughter - Dolanna, her name was - throws herself in his arms before they leave the football field.

Elena’s mind is quickly occupied by Stella’s in-depth review of her first football practice and plans for dinner. She can do some more digging into Lance Hunter later.

\---

After Estella is in bed, Elena calls Mack. They spend a fair bit of time discussing S.H.I.E.L.D. matters, and then a few minutes more talking about how Stella’s been doing being separated from her father and her plethora of aunts and uncles and cousins. Thankfully, it’s Mack who asks about their daughter’s first soccer practice.

“I was wondering how unethical it would be to research one of the other parents on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database,” Elena says after giving Mack the play-by-play.

“ _ Very _ ,” Mack responds with a chuckle. “Yo-Yo, I love you, but you gotta learn how to talk to people instead of just researching them.”

Elena makes a face that Mack can’t see. “I talk to people! I just prefer to be thorough.”

“I’m sure that if they’re a foreign spy, they’re thoroughly reformed,” Mack says.

“I don’t think he’s a foreign spy,” Elena sniffs. “He seems more the mercenary type.” Scruffy and rough around the edges was definitely more of a mercenary vibe.

Mack lets out a long belly laugh. “Whatever you say, mi amor.”

\---

Elena decides to take Mack’s advice to heart, and she spends the next two weeks asking Lance Hunter questions about his life. He’s quite willing to talk about his life now, but any questions she asks about the time before the birth of his daughter are met with evasive answers.

Like right now.

Lance has spent the last five minutes flexing his hand and massaging the tendons, looking rather uncomfortable throughout the process.

“Old injury flaring up?” She doesn’t bother trying not to sound nosy.

“Something like that,” he answers, looking rather startled. He obviously didn’t realize what he was doing. “It’s going to rain later,” Lance tells Elena.

“Good to know.” There hadn’t been rain in the forecast, but Elena knows a thing or two about injuries like those, so if Lance thinks it’s going to rain, she believes him. “How’d it happen?”

“Do you want the short story, or the long one?”

Elena pauses, considering. “The short one.”

“I punched a wall,” Lance grins, but there’s a flash of something pained behind his eyes.

“And the long one?” She prompts.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he demurs.

“Try me,” she challenges in response. No matter what had happened, her years at S.H.I.E.L.D. had prepared her for even the strangest of stories.

“Maybe some other time,” Lance says, nodding to the soccer field. Dolanna and Estella are both trudging towards the bleachers, too thoroughly exhausted even to run. They had been playing a practice scrimmage, which had been higher paced than Elena had expected. 

“Stella!” Elena calls. “Daddy’s going to be home when we get there!”

That puts some life back into her daughter, who picks her pace up into a trot. Mack hadn’t had much time to enjoy their newfound suburban lifestyle, still preparing to hand the reins of S.H.I.E.L.D. over at summer’s end.

“How long will your husband be back for?” Lance asks. “You should come over for dinner sometime,” he offers. “I’ll cook.”

“He’s only back for two days,” Elena replies apologetically. “I hate to decline, but it’d be rather short notice for a dinner together.”

“Next time he comes around, then.” Lance smiles. “I look forward to meeting the elusive Mr. Rodriguez.”

Elena doesn’t have time to correct him before Estella starts tugging her towards the car, eager to see her father after a long time apart.

It starts raining on the ride home, and Elena smiles.

\---

Stella manages to get her energy back before dinner time, which is a problem - she spends more time talking than she actually does eating.

“And then Doli told me that her papa plays football with her even when they’re at home!” Elena hadn’t quite followed the entire story that her daughter was telling, but Mack is wincing by the end of it, obviously bothered by the fact that he’s unable to stay at home and practice with their daughter.

“He plays soccer with her?” Mack repeats.

“No, Papa.  _ Football _ ,” Stella corrects him. “Doli calls it football because her papa calls it football.”

“Dolanna’s father is British,” Elena supplies helpfully. All of Stella’s stories somehow relate back to her friend, which is good - it means putting her on a sports team has succeeded in its mission of getting her to meet some kids in the area.

“Yeah!” Stella agrees enthusiastically. “Doli says some words funny, like Uncle Leo and Aunt Jemma! She calls her mama  _ mummy _ ! Like in that movie!” Elena glares at Mack.  _ The Mummy _ was not an appropriate movie for a six-year-old.

“Spooky.” Mack says with a smile, pointedly ignoring her glare. “How about this, stardust - next time I’m back, you and me can play as much soccer as you want.”

“I don’t wanna play soccer, Papa.” Stella sticks her nose in the air. “I wanna play  _ football _ .”

Elena cackles at the stricken look on her husband’s face. She had thought she was fighting a losing battle with the word soccer, but leave it to her daughter to find the one other child whose parent called the sport by its proper name.

\---

The first real football game of the season is shaping up to be quite the event. 

Elena walks onto the field, Stella’s hand grasped firmly in hers, and sees that the bleachers are already seething with people. The familiar faces of parents are intermingled with the faces of strangers Elena assumes are grandparents or neighbors or siblings - or anyone else who would want to watch a rec league soccer game.

After dropping Stella off with her coach, Elena made her way back to the stands. The back row of the bleachers was predictably empty. Everyone wanted to be as close to the action as possible. Lance is sitting in the same spot he normally occupies, but he’s not alone this time. A tall blonde woman sits beside him, her hand curled in his. Even without the hand-holding Elena would have guessed that the woman was Dolanna’s mother; her daughter is a spitting image of her.

Lance waves to her, turning and saying something to his wife before Elena gets into earshot. Whatever he said, his wife nods in response, and Elena’s curiosity is piqued.

“Afternoon, Elena,” Lance greets. “My wife, Bobbi,” he introduces, nodding towards the blonde and confirming the relationship Elena had already guessed at.

“Nice to meet you.” Elena says with a smile. “Your daughter looks just like you.”

Bobbi smiles politely in response. “Nice to meet you, as well.” 

“Your husband going to make it to this game, Elena?” Lance asks, not unkindly. Ever since agreeing to have dinner with the Hunters the next time Mack was around, Lance had been asking after him. He had told Elena that he and his wife were a bit desperate to find adult friends - specifically, adult friends ‘who didn’t have their heads up their arses’. That was the moment Elena had decided that she and Lance Hunter were  _ definitely _ going to be friends.

“He said he was going to try to, but he’s always running late these days,” Elena says, shaking her head fondly. “And he gets angry that I call him turtle man.”

“Husbands are bad at accepting nicknames,” Bobbi smirks.

“ _ Teacup _ is not a nickname, it’s a piece of kitchenware, and it’s stereotypical!” Hunter argues.

“Yes, because you have so much room to talk.” Bobbi rolls her eyes. “Your nickname is an  _ insult _ .”

The pair of them begin squabbling, but their interlaced fingers never release. It’s bickering, but the kind that’s filled with love and familiarity. Elena makes a note to herself to ask about Lance’s relationship with his wife, because there’s a story there, she knows it.

The voices abruptly cut off, and Elena snaps back to focus, trying to figure out what’s wrong. It doesn’t take long to find the source of the couple’s sudden silence. Dolanna is sprawled on the football field, face down. Elena waits for her to get up. If there was one thing she had learned while watching practices, it was that kids were remarkably resilient. They could wipe out and be back up again in seconds.

But Dolanna doesn’t get up. She pushes herself to sitting, but even from a distance it’s obvious that she’s full-on sobbing. 

The crowds in the stands go from relatively rowdy to silent as the coach and the referee both jog over to the little girl, joined a few moments later by Lance. The crying doesn’t stop, and Elena sees Lance gently take his daughter’s hand in his, turning her wrist this way and that. He says something to the coach and the ref, who nod at him before he scoops his daughter, still sobbing, up into his arms.

Elena scribbles her phone number on the back of a receipt, handing it to Bobbi as she climbs down the bleachers. “I hope she’s okay,” Elena offers. 

Bobbi smiles tightly in response. “Thanks.”

She disappears off the field, following Lance, and Elena turns back to the game. The crowd is substantially more subdued than it was before.

Mack manages to make it ten minutes later, taking up Bobbi and Hunter’s now-vacant spot. “Why’s everyone so quiet?” He murmurs to Elena.

“One of the kids probably broke her wrist earlier,” Elena responds in a whisper. “Stella’s friend.”

“Damn.” Mack whistles softly. “Tough.”

“She’s a tough kid,” Elena says. She’s seen Dolanna fall enough times to know that the girl knows how to pick herself up. “Stella’s going to be worried, though.” In all honesty, Elena had been surprised that her daughter hadn’t started crying the same moment her friend did.

“It’ll all be alright,” Mack says, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “It always is.”

\---

It’s eleven o’clock at night when Elena’s phone rings, the display lighting up with an unknown number. 

“Hello?” She asks, leaving the bedroom. She had been reading while Mack was sleeping, but she didn’t want to wake him up if the conversation was a long one.

“Hi, Elena. It’s Lance,” he sighs. “Bob said you were worried about Doli, so I thought I’d call and let you know she’s doing better now.”

“Her wrist broken?” Elena asks.

“Yeah, two of the bones fractured. She’ll be in a cast for at least six weeks.” Lance sounds really, really tired. “Did your husband make it to the game?” He seems eager to switch the subject.

“He did.” She smiles to herself.

“I’m beginning to think he just doesn’t like me,” Hunter teases. “Avoiding me all the damn time.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. He couldn’t hurt a fly.” Elena is not going to mention that her husband has a favorite weapon, because that directly contradicts what she just said.

“That’s what I say about Bobbi,” Hunter chuckles. Elena’s not sure what she’s supposed to make of that comment.

“Thanks again for your concern,” he says. “It’s been a while since we’ve had anyone watching our backs.”

“It’s no problem, Lance. Really.” Elena assures him. The more she talks to Lance, the more she wants to know what the hell happened to him and his wife before their daughter was born. The way he speaks, especially about having people to trust, indicates someone who fell abruptly from grace. She wants to know, but she doesn’t know where to begin with asking.

“Have a nice night. I’ll see you next week?”

“You too. See you.”

\---

The next football practice, Dolanna arrives with a bright blue cast on her arm. Elena had told Stella to expect something of the sort, and the forewarning combined with the fact that Estella had grown up with a mother with robot arms meant that the little girl didn’t even comment on it, just smiled and taken her friend’s good hand in hers before walking onto the field together.

If anyone looks worse for the wear, it’s Lance. He doesn’t look  _ bad _ , exactly - just tired.

“Have you slept at all in the last week?” Elena asks with an arched eyebrow.

“Who are you, my mum?” Lance grouses. He sighs. “I’ve been sleeping. Kind of.” He sighs again. “Bobbi’s not been well, and Doli’s been adjusting to the cast, and - it’s just been a lot.”

Elena offers him a comforting pat on the back. “It’ll all go back to normal soon.”

Lance barks out a laugh. “My life’s never been normal.”

Elena pauses, struggling to find an appropriate reaction. “Even before you had Dolanna?” 

“Even then,” Lance responds immediately. He hesitates before elaborating further. “I did a lot of bad, and when I tried to balance it out with good, I just ended up failing people.” Lance scrubs his hands down his face, shaking his head. “Nevermind that, though. It’s over. Can’t go back.”

Elena nods pensively. It’s only a small step, but it’s a step. Especially those last words -  _ can’t go back _ . They had been said with a sort of heaviness that implied more than just the inability to turn back time. 

“You’ll figure it out,” she says. 

“I sure hope so.”

\---

At dinner time, Estella has a hundred things to say as usual, and Elena is trying to get her to actually  _ eat _ as usual. She’s all but given up on the task when Stella asks a question that sends her for a tailspin.

“Mama, if I break my arm, can I have a baby brother or sister?”

Elena nearly chokes on the fish she had been chewing. “¿Qué, mija?”

“Doli broke her arm, and she told me she’s getting a new baby in December,” Stella explains patiently. “If I break my arm, can I have a baby?”

“Stardust, Dolanna isn’t getting a baby because she broke her arm,” Elena says, fighting valiantly against the blush rising in her cheeks. This is only slightly better than the ‘where do babies come from’ conversation.

“Oh.” Stella looks disappointed. “So does this mean I can have a baby even if I don’t break my arm?”

“That is something your papa and I have to talk about,” Elena replies. She knows it’s a cop-out, but her daughter had never shown interest in having a sibling before this point, so she doesn’t have an answer prepared. “Do you actually want a baby brother or sister, or do you just want to be like Doli?”

Stella shrugs. “Dunno.”

Elena rubs at her temples. She needs to call Mack.

\---

Lance looks even more dead than before sitting on the bleachers, but at least this time Elena has an inkling as to why he looks so bad.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” she says as a greeting.

“Huh?” He blinks at her.

“My daughter asked me last week if she can have a baby if she breaks her arm,” Elena tells him, fighting against the smile that’s threatening. 

Lance sighs. “I should know better than to trust a six-year-old with a secret.”

“You really should.” Elena doesn’t bother fighting back the smile this time. “But still, congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Lance smiles back at her, and it takes some of the edge off of the planes of his face. 

“Stella said December?” Elena prompts. She can’t help it. Ever since she moved away from the rest of her S.H.I.E.L.D. family and all of her nieces and nephews, she’s been a little starved for baby news. 

“December seventh.” Lance nods.

“So you’ve known for a while,” Elena guesses.

“Since April,” he agrees. “Bob’s so tall that it took her ages to show with Doli, so we were playing the odds. Didn’t want to tell her too early and spend nine months telling her the baby wasn’t here yet, but…” Lance shudders. “If she had asked why mummy was getting fat, there would have been  _ many _ tears.”

Elena gives him a sympathetic look. Even not pregnant, it would tear her up if her daughter mentioned she looked fat, and hormones were decidedly unkind to emotions. 

“Telling her kind of let the cat out of the bag, I s’pose,” Lance finishes.

“Are your families excited?” Lance flinches at the question.

“I was an only child, parents are gone now. Bob’s family - doesn’t approve of me, or our relationship.” He’s trying hard not to look hurt, but it’s obvious he is. “So it’s just the three of us, really.”

Elena’s heart tugs painfully. “Well, if you ever need some down time, I’m sure Doli and Stella would  _ love _ a playdate.”

“I’m really glad our daughters are friends. Makes us being friends all the easier.” Lance looks utterly relieved to have the offer of babysitting on the table.

“You owe me, by the way.” Elena says, switching the subject before either of them can get teary about the magic of friendship.

“Why’s that?”

“You’re the reason I had to explain to my husband that our daughter wants us to have another child. Most awkward conversation to have over the phone.”

Lance just laughs.

\---

The second real game of the season is rained out. It’s just as well, because Mack wasn’t going to be able to make it and Stella was nearly in tears over her daddy not being there, but it means Elena has to find something else to fill the nearly two hours Stella would have otherwise spent running around.

Luckily, Lance is facing a similar conundrum, and he has a solution: they’re going to a diner for dinner.

The five of them - Lance, Bobbi, Dolanna, Elena, and Estella - are tucked into a booth in the back corner. The weather meant that the diner was mostly empty, but there’s a soft buzz of conversation amongst the wait staff.

“Wonder what they’re talking about,” Hunter muses, gesturing to the gaggle of people.

“The Russian Prime Minister died last night,” Elena supplies. She’s been trying to keep up to date with current affairs, even if they don’t impact her as directly as they used to. “Olshenko.”

“Good riddance.” Lance spits. Elena’s surprised by the sudden vitriol; he hadn’t seemed to be all that interested in politics in the time they spoke.

Bobbi looks equally mutinous. “He was a scumbag.”

Elena arches an eyebrow, but she’s a little worried about where prying will lead the conversation, especially since their children are watching.

“Mummy,” Dolanna says, turning to her mother with big blue eyes. “Can I have a milkshake with dinner? Pretty please?”

Elena knows that the question is coming before Estella even says it. “Can I have a milkshake too, mama?”

“How about this,” Bobbi says. “You and Stella can share a milkshake, if it’s alright with Stella’s mama.”

Elena nods her assent to the arrangement. There would be no tantrums, but hopefully half a milkshake will be enough to avoid a sugar rush.

They order their food, and Elena watches, amused, as the two girls both begin greedily sucking down their chocolate milkshake. There’s a click of a shutter, and Elena turns to see Lance taking a picture of the pair on her phone. She nudges him with her leg.

“Send me that.” She whispers. Lance smiles and nods, and a moment later her phone pings. The picture is ridiculously cute, and Elena forwards it to Mack. He responds almost immediately with a smiley face emoji. 

As the night wears on, Elena can’t tell who’s fading faster: the girls, or Bobbi. Elena can’t blame Bobbi for being dead tired - growing a baby will do that to you - and her yawns offer a convenient excuse, since children are altogether unwilling to admit their own fatigue.

Mack calls her after Stella is in bed.

“Thanks for the picture,” he says. “She really likes Dolanna, huh?”

“She really does,” Elena chuckles. “If they’re lucky they’ll be in the same class for school.”

“That’d be something.” Elena can hear her husband’s smile even through the phone. “Want some good news?” He asks.

“Always.”

“Sounds like I’ll be able to pass the torch sooner than I thought. I’ll be home in two weeks,” he announces proudly. “Fitz and Jemma were thinking of coming with me, and maybe Daisy too. I figure they can stay in the guest rooms until they find a good house.”

“What about the cottage in Perthshire?” Elena teases.

“Oh, you know them. They keep talking about it, but they just want to stay near the people they love.”

“We’re so lucky, Mack.” Elena sighs happily.

“You can say that again, Yo-Yo.”

\---

Three days later, Elena gets a call in the middle of the afternoon from none other than Lance Hunter.

“Hello?” 

“Hi. Can I ask you a super huge favor?” Lance sounds slightly panicked.

“Sure thing,” Elena replies, concerned by the tone of Lance’s voice.

“Can I drop Dolanna off with you for a few hours? Bobbi -” He cuts himself off, and sighs heavily. “I need to take Bobbi to the hospital.”

Elena’s stomach drops to her toes. “Yes, of course. You know the address?”

Hunter confirms that he does, and Elena goes out on the front porch to wait. It’s barely five minutes before Lance’s car rolls up. Bobbi’s in the passenger seat, looking drawn and pale. Lance ducks out of the car, opening the back door and ushering Dolanna out of the vehicle. 

“Thank you so much, Elena.” Lance says, handing her a canvas bag full of Doli’s various things. “I’m so sorry it’s such short notice, but -” he looks back at the car with worry clear on his face. 

“Hey.” Elena wraps her hand around Lance’s arm, squeezing gently. “Don’t worry about Dolanna. She can stay here as long as you need.”

“Thanks.” Lance repeats again. Without thinking, Elena wraps him up in the hug he so obviously needs, holding him for a few seconds before releasing.

“Go,” she urges him.

Lance kisses Dolanna on the cheek before jogging back into the car.

Elena switches her focus to the girl still standing at her feet. “Want to come in and see Stella?” She asks. Dolanna nods, looking rather lost.

“Don’t worry, cariña.” Elena says, smoothing her hand through Doli’s blonde hair. “Everything will be okay.”

\---

Dolanna stays for dinner, and around eight o’clock, Elena gets a text from Lance.

_ [Lance]: Bobbi and baby fine. She’s staying overnight for observation. Leaving to pick up Doli in 10. _

_ [Elena]: She can stay here for the night. Stay with your wife. _

Elena can only imagine the ordeal that Bobbi must’ve been through, and she knows that sometimes to make things feel better, you just need to be held by someone who makes you feel safe.

Lance thanks her again, but he doesn’t seem to realize how little of a burden it really is. Stella is over the moon to get to have a sleepover with her best friend.

About an hour after the girls get to bed, the front door opens. Elena zips from the kitchen table to see who it is, snapping back into place when she realizes it’s just Mack, and not an intruder.

“I didn’t know you were coming home,” Elena says as he steps into the kitchen. 

“What can I say? I missed my girls.” Mack smiles as he bends to kiss Elena. “Stella asleep?”

“She is,” Elena confirms. “Dolanna’s with her.”

Mack raises his eyebrows.

“Impromptu sleepover. Family emergency,” Elena explains concisely. She’s not sure how much information Bobbi and Hunter would be comfortable with her sharing, so she keeps it to the bare minimum.

“They can’t seem to catch a break, huh?” Mack asks, obviously reminded of the time Dolanna had broken her wrist.

“Seems to be a theme with their life.” Elena says sadly. “They’re good people, Mack.”

“Bad things happen to good people sometimes, Yo-Yo.” 

They both know this. It doesn’t hurt less.

\---

Mack leaves early the next morning, lamenting the fact that he has to miss breakfast to make it back on time.

Lance arrives to pick up Dolanna as they’re clearing away the breakfast dishes, and she runs into her father’s arms immediately.

“Hey, bluebird.” Lance gives his daughter a tired smile. “How was your sleepover?”

“Good!” Doli chirps. “But I missed you and mummy.”

“We missed you too, bird.” Lance kisses his daughter’s cheek. 

He turns to look at Elena. “I hope she wasn’t too much trouble?”

“Oh, she was an angel,” Elena assures him. She’s sure part of that was the novelty of being in a new place with new people, but she’ll take whatever reason for good behavior she can.

“I can’t thank you enough.”

“I’m just glad everything is alright,” Elena replies smoothly. “You have a thanking-people thing, you know that?”

Lance cracks a smile. “Not used to having people worth thanking, I guess.”

“Speaking of!” Elena grabs onto the segue. “My husband’s bringing some of his coworkers with him to Wisconsin next week. We’re having a belated housewarming party. Think you could make it?”

“Definitely! I’ve only spent the whole summer trying to meet him.” Lance seems glad to have more good news.

“Save the date then. August the twelfth.”

“I’ll see you then.” 

\---

Before the housewarming party, there’s another football practice. Lance looks substantially better than he has in past weeks, the dark circles under his eyes less pronounced and his general demeanor more relaxed.

“Afternoon,” he greets Elena breezily.

“You look better,” she replies. 

He rolls his eyes at her.

“It’s a compliment!”

“A back-handed one!”

“Maybe,” she acquiesces. “But really. You look better.”

“Things are looking up.” Lance shrugs, then grins at her. 

“Only thing that’s missing is -” Lance doesn’t finish the sentence. He’s been doing a lot of that lately.

Elena’s not sure what’s missing, but she hopes that whatever it is, Lance can find it.

\---

The day of the housewarming party dawns bright and hot, and Elena wakes up to a text from Mack with the team’s ETA. Not just Fitz and Simmons are coming - the entire team decided to  make the trip to Wisconsin, if only for the day. Elena’s not entirely sure where they’re planning on parking the Zephyr, but that’s not her problem.

She busies herself with cleaning the house and getting the various snack foods lined up. Lance had insisted upon baking a cake for some unknown reason, and also insisted upon bringing drinks - which he claims means juice boxes and soda, not alcohol. Elena doesn’t bother disputing the veracity of this claim.

Elena’s a little relieved that the plane full of people gets there before Bobbi and Hunter do, because she can only imagine how overwhelming it would be to have the entire team pour in at the same time. Fitz, Simmons, their two boys, Daisy, Robbie, their son and daughter, May, Coulson, and Mack overwhelm  _ her _ a little bit, and she’s known them all for years.

“Grandpa!” Stella leaps into Coulson’s arms, and he swings her around with a smile.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Mack asks. Stella sticks her tongue out at him before turning back to Coulson.

“Today you get to meet my best friend!” She announces happily. “Doli’s six like me and she’s really tall and she’s really good at football -”

“I thought you were playing soccer?” Coulson interrupts.

“Doli and I call it football because her papa calls it football and Mama does too.” Estella is sick of explaining this to people, Elena can tell. 

“Okay, okay,” Coulson laughs. “Tell me more about this mysterious Doli figure.”

“She’s got a cast cuz she broke her wrist and her cast is blue! She told me it’s cuz her parents call her bluebird, even though her mama - her  _ mummy _ , Doli says mummy - likes mockingbirds better. Also, Doli likes vanilla ice cream better than chocolate ice cream but when we shared a milkshake she let us get chocolate cuz that’s what I like, and -”

“Stardust, breathing isn’t optional.” Mack says, leaning over to kiss his daughter’s head. “I am sure your grandpa will keep listening even if you have to take a breath.”

Elena smiles, knowing her husband is fighting a losing battle. Satisfied that Coulson is keeping her daughter occupied, she turns to Fitz and Simmons’s twins. “What, no hugs for Tia Elena?” She asks. George and Henry both giggle before throwing themselves at her legs for an attack hug, quickly followed by Daisy’s son Abe, who struggles to keep up on his much shorter legs.

“We missed you!” George says, batting his unfairly long eyelashes. “Mummy and Daddy say that we’re going to move to Wisconsin, too!”

“Is that so?” Elena says, bending to pick Abe up. The toddler gives her a toothy grin, obviously pleased to be held.

“Yeah! And Aunt Daisy and Uncle Robbie are going to come too!” Henry adds. “So we can all be together!”

“Grandpa and Grandma say they’re too old to be in Wisconsin,” George continues. “But I think they’re going to stay with us anyways.”

Elena laughs out loud. “I’m glad to hear it, Georgie.”

The doorbell rings, and Elena picks her way through the knot of people in her kitchen to answer it, handing Abe over to his father along the way. Stella launches herself out of Coulson’s arm to follow her mother to the front door, bouncing excitedly.

The moment the door’s open, a streak of blonde hair flies past her. Stella disappears with Dolanna before Elena can so much as greet Bobbi and Lance.

“I’m beginning to think we’re lucky that she didn’t break any bones sooner,” Lance comments drily.

“She likes to move fast. I can respect that,” Elena grins.

“I’m returning this one if it runs around as much as Doli does,” Lance says, poking Bobbi’s stomach playfully.

“I’ll return  _ you _ if you think about returning our children again,” she says faux-sweetly.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I so would! I’ve returned you before!”

“And look how well that turned out.”

Elena rolls her eyes at Lance and Bobbi’s bickering before stepping back to allow them into the house. 

“Mack!” She calls over her shoulder. Her husband lumbers out of the kitchen, stopping dead in his tracks when he sees who’s at the door.

Elena’s not exactly sure what’s happening, but everyone else in the room seems spellbound.

“Hi,” Mack says dumbly.

“Hi,” Bobbi whispers back.

“Long time, no see, mate,” Hunter offers quietly. Mack’s face flickers between a smile and a frown for a few moments before he nods.

“You know each other?” Elena asks.

“We’ve actually met before,” Bobbi says, turning to Elena. “In Colombia. We were there.”

_ Oh _ . So all of her fussing over Hunter seeming familiar wasn’t just paranoia. They  _ had _ met, albeit almost a decade ago. 

“You’ve heard me talk about my friends who were disavowed?” Mack asks. Elena nods. “This is them.”

It’s like seeing Lance and Bobbi for the first time again. Everything makes sense. It’s like puzzle pieces falling into place, and Elena can’t believe she didn’t see the whole picture sooner.

“We, uh, brought cake.” Hunter thrusts the cake pan towards Elena, taking a step backwards. She’s seen him in enough stressful situations to know he’s overwhelmed, so she takes the cake from him and tries to smile.

They’re saved from the tension of the moment by children running in underfoot. “Daddy!” Dolanna shouts, grabbing onto Lance’s hand. “Stella’s cousins wanna learn football! You gotta teach em!”

“You gotta, Mister Lance!” Stella echoes, latching onto his other hand.

“Well, if I  _ gotta _ ,” Lance says, pasting on a bright smile. “Alright, show me to the backyard and these cousins of yours, Stel.” 

He’s pulled away by the girls before any of the other adults have time to protest. 

“They’re going to kill him,” Mack says mildly.

“Nah, he’ll be fine.” Bobbi waves her hand in Hunter’s general direction. “He’s Hunter.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m worried,” Mack laughs.

It’s the last thing he gets to say before Daisy pokes her head out from the kitchen. “What’s taking you guys so -” And then she sees Bobbi, and screams.

Her scream sends a flood of people from the other room, because Daisy screaming normally means something very bad or very exciting. Sometimes both, because their lives were weird like that. 

When everyone else sees Bobbi, there’s another chorus of screams. Elena’s surprised when Jemma literally throws herself at Bobbi, tackling the taller woman in a full-body hug. Bobbi has to take a half-step back to keep her balance, but wraps her arms around Jemma regardless.

“So, who’s this?” Robbie asks. He’s holding Rose close to his chest, obviously intent upon keeping his daughter safe in the sudden crush of people.

“This is Bobbi,” Daisy answers, as if that’s all the introduction she needs.

“So, where’s Hunter?” Fitz asks. He looks at Bobbi, going a little pale. “I mean, if he’s still - if you’re still -”

“Breathe, Fitz,” Bobbi says with an amused smile. “We’re still together, yes.” 

“He’s out back playing football with the kids,” Elena supplies helpfully.

With the revelation and reunion mostly out of the way, the group of agents filters back into the sitting room. Mack takes one of the armchairs, and Bobbi the other. Elena plops herself on Mack’s lap while Fitz and Simmons curl up together on the sofa. Robbie takes the last place on the sofa, Daisy sitting at his feet on the floor. 

The conversation is slow to start, and Elena gets the sense that everyone is trying to feel Bobbi out. They prod gently at the years between when she and Hunter left S.H.I.E.L.D. and the present, but Bobbi seems reluctant to talk about it. When they move on to the more recent years, Bobbi lights up, telling endless stories about her and Hunter’s adventures in parenthood.

Without warning, the children descend upon the living room. Abe and Henry are both in tears, which sets off alarm bells.

“What happened, Stel?” Mack asks before Elena has the chance to.

“Henry kicked the ball into the tree!” Stella announces. “But there was a beehive in the tree and so lots of bees came out and Mister Lance said we had to go inside because he doesn’t know if we’re ‘lergic to bees, and Abe is afraid of them I guess.” She shrugs, not all that bothered by her cousin’s crying.

“And where is he now?” Elena questions. Lance hadn’t come in with the kids.

“He’s getting the ball!” Dolanna cuts in. “It got stuck really high up!”

Bobbi’s already halfway out of her seat, ready to head for the back door. “Come on, bluebird. Let’s make sure Daddy doesn’t hurt himself,” she says, reaching a hand out for Dolanna. Elena stands up, too, seeing the look in Mack’s eyes. He looks like he wants to protest Bobbi moving, and she knows that’ll go over like a lead balloon. She shakes her head slightly at him, letting him know that she’ll handle it.

The trio open up the back door, and Elena sees why Lance sent the kids packing - the swarm of bees is huge. She’ll probably have to call an exterminator to get rid of the hive, she thinks absentmindedly. Dolanna, who had seemed unbothered by the bees before, clings to her mother’s legs.

“Hunter?” Bobbi calls, edging towards the large oak tree in the backyard. 

“Be down in a sec, love,” Lance answers. There are lines of worry etched into Bobbi’s face, but Elena doesn’t comment on them. God knows she’d be worried if Mack tried to do something as stupid as climb a tree in a bee swarm.

In short order Hunter is ducking through the cloud of insects, giving Bobbi a bright smile when he sees her. “See? All fine,” he says, kissing her cheek. He tosses the soccer ball to Elena, who catches it.

“Never would’ve guessed Fitzsimmons’s kids would be the ones who broke all the rules,” Hunter chuckles to no one on particular.

“Crazy, isn’t it?” Elena replies with a laugh. She had been just as surprised when George and Henry had started getting themselves into trouble. “They’re too smart for their own good.”

“You can say that again,” Hunter grumbles. He notices Dolanna still hiding behind Bobbi, and scoops his daughter up into his arms. 

“Bees are scary,” Dolanna mumbles, looking warily over her shoulder.

“That they are, bluebird,” Lance agrees. “Why don’t we take this party inside, huh?”

Bobbi enters the house first, followed by Hunter, and Elena takes up the rear so she can lock the door behind her. She doesn’t want anyone slipping outside until the bee swarm has died down - it would be a shame if somebody got stung.

As soon as they’re inside, Dolanna hops down from her father’s arms, scampering back towards the festivities. Bobbi follows her daughter, albeit at a slower pace, but Lance doesn’t. He stops just over the threshold, heaving a sigh.

“Everything okay?” Elena asks.

“Yeah, I guess,” Lance answers evasively. 

“That doesn’t sound very okay, amigo,” she chides gently.

“My history with the team is… complicated.” Lance shrugs. “I reckon they mostly only tolerated me because of Bobbi.”

Elena frowns. Hunter speaks about it so casually, but it’s obvious he’s bothered, and she doesn’t know what to do about it. She opts for resting a hand against his shoulder, squeezing gently. “People change. And if anyone gives you shit, I’ll punch them for you.” She smiles teasingly at him. “They’ll never even see it coming.”

The corners of Lance’s lips tug up into a half-smile. “Be careful, or I might take you up on that.”

Elena squeezes his shoulder again. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.” And she  _ does _ mean it. She doesn’t know what exactly transpired before she became a part of the team, but she hopes that Lance knows that she, at least, considers him a part of their crazy extended family.

“Hey,” Mack says, appearing in the doorway. “I was beginning to worry the bees had gotten you two.”

“As if they’d ever catch me,” Elena jokes.

Lance just shrugs. “I’m getting old and grey, I move slower now.” To make a point he begins hobbling across the room at a snail’s pace. 

Mack snorts at him. “Well, old man, your wife’s asking for you.”

That puts a pep in Lance’s step instantly, and both Mack and Elena watch him go. She sidles over to her husband, leaning into him as he wraps an arm around her shoulders.

“How are you doing?” Elena asks softly. This must’ve come as a shock for everyone, but especially Mack. In the stories he told about Bobbi and Hunter, he always spoke of them with affection - even when he was also exasperated. He had known them for a long time before they had been taken away from him, unfairly.

“I’m processing,” Mack admits. “I knew that their lives moved on, because mine did, but…” He shrugs again. “Now they’ve got a kid, and another on the way, and… they’re still Bobbi and Hunter, but they’re different, too, you know?”

Elena nods, weaving their fingers together silently. “Different is not always bad, mi amor.”

“I know,” Mack sighs. “I just wasn’t prepared, I guess.” He leans down, kissing the top of her head softly. “We should be getting back in, too.”

Elena nods again, but doesn’t move. “Mack?” She asks, stopping him mid-step. “We don’t always get second chances. Let’s make the best of this one, yeah?”

He pauses, but nods at her. She’s not sure if he caught her meaning (or even exactly what her meaning  _ was _ , considering she’s still digesting everything that happened), but that’s okay. 

They have a family to get back to. 

**Author's Note:**

> I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR LITERAL WEEKS. I'm so glad it's done oh my word. Possibly will be writing prequels that revolve around how Huntingbird and Mackelena land in Wisconsin, so let me know if you wanna read those, I guess?


End file.
